The Couple No One Ever Expected
by aaliona
Summary: Parvati and Percy meet by chance while in mourning from fresh wounds. They are two people no one expected together, but they seem to be determined to prove everyone wrong. Rated T for character death, pegnancy, and mention of underage sex.


**I decided to write an example entry for my own contest "The Odd Couple" on the Harry Potter Fanfiction Challenges forum. Using Random dot com, I received the couple below. I hope you enjoy it. Bear with the paragraphs of background at the beginning. I didn't know how else to put my version of her history in it.**

Parvati never planned on falling in love that day. Perhaps, she thought to herself, she hadn't really. She had merely given herself the open mind to develop a friendship she hadn't expected. As she looked out the café window waiting for her date to finally join her, Parvati placed her hand on her stomach. After so much heart ache of so many types, it was hard to believe her life was looking right.

By the time the Battle of Hogwarts took place, Parvati was out of hope and out of love. After her flop Yule Ball date with Harry Potter, she'd fallen for a Beauxbatons boy who made her feel perfect and then never sent her another owl after the tournament ended. Distraught with heart ache, Parvati had jumped the next ship that came her way; namely, Seamus Finnegan. They had started off friendly enough, but he flitted away as soon as he realized that Parvati wouldn't sleep with him. He had immediately started flirting with Lavender Brown. It had caused no small rift between the two girls when he did, but they mended their friendship as soon as he lost interest.

Parvati and Lavender both moved on, and Parvati gave up her inhibitions about sex after three months of steadily dating Blaise Zabini, losing her virginity with less than a month left to her fifth year, a well gossiped about feat. Once again she was dropped as soon as school let out; although this time she at least received a letter saying as much. As her sixth and seventh years went along, she had spats with Terry Boot, Theodore Nott, Anthony Goldstein, and even Ernie Macmillan. By April of her seventh year, Parvati was fed up with boys and her sister Padma was pregnant at the hand of none other than the man who had taken Parvati's virginity.

"What am I going to do?" Padma cried as she sobbed on her twin's shoulder. "I'm too young to have a baby!"

"Are you considering abortion?" Parvati asked gently. She couldn't imagine her sister taking such a route, but it was still best to double-check.

"Of course not," she replied, sitting up to glare at her sister. "I made my bed. Now I have to lie in it."

Lavender, who was sitting with them, snorted, although she was obviously trying to repress it.

"What?" Padma snapped.

"I'm sorry, but isn't lying in bed what got you into this mess in the first place?"

Padma slapped her arm and started crying again. As the hysterical girl fell back into her sister's arms, Parvati demanded, "Is this really the time or the place for such comments?"

Lavender put a hand on Padma's back. "I'm sorry, really I am. Humor is how I cope with shock."

Padma laughed bitterly. "_You're_ shocked? I don't even know how to call what I'm feeling."

"Is Blaise going to help?" Parvati asked.

Her sister shook her head. "I don't know. Honestly, I'm afraid to tell him. I mean, I haven't seen much of him lately with all the distrust the Carrows are causing. Last time we talked, it sounded like he was getting ready to break up with me. A baby is a bad way to stay together."

"You'll be okay," Lavender promised.

"I'm sure he'd be a good father even if you separate," Parvati agreed.

Padma sighed. "I'm just afraid of what could happen _now_ of all times. There's a war going on, and we both have the right blood to stay alive for it. Do you have any idea where his parents lie? I just know he was trying to stay unnoticed so he wouldn't have to join the Death Eaters and kill."

"It will be fine," Parvati replied, echoing Lavender's earlier words. "You're going to be okay." She had no idea that their delicate little world would soon be far from fine.

Padma died from a killing curse in the Battle of Hogwarts. Lavender was mauled by Fenrir Greyback and in critical condition. Parvati was the only one of their trio left untouched when Voldemort's killing curse rebounded.

She went to the only place she could think of: the Divination's roof. Few who had quit Divinations before sixth year realized that the ceiling of the classroom had a trapdoor which led up to a small, open rooftop identical to the top of the astronomy tower. During the last two years, this rooftop had become the one place Parvati could go to clear her head. Not even Lavender or Padma had realized where she was going, only knowing that her disappearances likely meant she was in "Parvati's place," as they liked to call it.

Parvati went over to the very edge and sat cross-legged on the thick wall. As she looked down at the crumbled decay of castle around her, Parvati wondered how many lives had been taken, how many people would never be the same again. She knew it was the fault of Voldemort and his Death Eaters, but it was so hard not to blame herself for Padma's death.

"If only I had made her stay home," Parvati whispered to herself. "She was carrying a life. Now they're both gone." It would have been so much less painful if both of them had stayed in hiding like they had been since their parents had learned of Padma's condition instead of rushing at the first burn of the D.A. coin. Now Death had taken her sister and the little life she'd had inside her. It wasn't fair.

Parvati shuddered, holding back a sob. Could she even do this without her sister? Could she continue through life as though she'd always been alone? Parvati had never been alone. Padma had been born first and Lavender, her soon-to-be best friend, sorted first. There had always been someone, but with Padma gone and Lavender in limbo, she wasn't sure.

As she looked over the tower's edge, Parvati wondered if it would hurt. It seemed so easy to just slide off the ledge and plummet to the earth. Depending on how she fell, it may not even be painful at the bottom.

"Oh, hello," a male voice said from behind her.

In her surprise, Parvati jerked and nearly completed the task she'd been contemplating. She didn't even have her balance again when a pair of scrawny arms wrapped around her from behind.

"Careful," the voice said in her ear. "You don't want to fall."

He let go of her so that she could turn around and get off the ledge. Parvati was surprised to realize it was one of the Weasleys. She couldn't quite remember his name. It started with a P. Was it Parker?

"Hello," she said cautiously. "What are you doing up here."

He shifted on his feet and stepped up next to her, leaning again the block Parvati had been sitting on. "This is my thinking place," he admitted, gazing out at the grounds. "At least, it was. I came here throughout most of my Hogwarts years." He looked back at Parvati. "I could ask you the same question."

She shrugged. "It's the same for me. Ever since I discovered it, I've loved coming up here. There's never a crowd." The boy – Peter? – nodded his head, but he didn't reply. After about twenty seconds of silence, Parvati asked, "How did you find out about this roof? You don't exactly look like the Divinations type."

With a sigh he replied, "I happened upon a map in my brother's stuff my fourth year. It had all of Hogwarts on it, and I noticed this up here." His voice cracked. The boy looked away, blinking furiously.

Parvati started as she remembered that she had seen one of the Weasley twins among the dead. At the time she had been much more concerned with her own twin and Lavender to care. "I'm sorry," she offered.

He looked up with a weak smile. "Thanks. I don't exactly know what life will be like with only one twin." Parvati gasped, barely withholding the outburst welling up. "Oh, you're a twin too, aren't you? I'm sorry, but I can't tell you and your sister apart."

"I'm Parvati," she replied, realizing just how draw her throat was.

"Percy," he replied, holding out a hand to shake. When he saw her face deteriorating, Percy dropped his hand and asked, "What's wrong?"

"My sister…" Parvati said. "She's… gone."

"I'm so sorry." Percy reached out awkwardly, knowing that simple touch was at least a small comfort, but it wasn't something he had experience with giving.

Parvati looked back up at the touch on her arm. She smiled as best she could, although tears were running down her face. "Thanks," she managed to say. "Looks like we've both lost a lot today."

Percy nodded, letting the silence say everything. They hardly knew each other and had almost nothing in common, but at that moment, it didn't matter. All they needed was a little understanding and comfort. Staring out at the castle grounds, Parvati ended up with her head on Percy's shoulder and his arm around her waist. Their sorrow was enough to bring them together.

Although they both remembered the occasion, it was nearly two months later that they even saw each other again. Percy was surprisingly high up in the Ministry pecking order and was immediately set to work helping clear up the shambled remains of Wizarding Britain's government. Parvati spent almost a month sitting at Lavender's bedside in St. Mungo's before finally plucking up the courage to find Blaise and tell him about Padma. What she hadn't expected was for him to start crying.

"I didn't know," he repeated over and over. "Oh God! If I had, I would have been there to protect her." He also took to saying in the hour and a half she comforted him, "I did love her. I promise you that. The only reason I let her go was for her own safety."

It was truly depressing for Parvati to console her dead sister's last lover, and she left his house ready to bawl her eyes out. Yet the only person she wanted to find was Percy Weasley. After three years of physical touch and sex as an outlet, Parvati finally understood the power of something as simple as she and Percy had shared.

Two weeks later, she plucked up the courage to owl him. They started dating shortly after, and Parvati was relieved that they did not sleep together for over a year after. She was twenty and had been with Percy for two and a half years when she got pregnant. No one would have guessed that she would tell Percy the same day that he had a ring in his pocket ready for him to propose.

Now here they were, three months later, as Parvati's stomach was swelling, and Molly was singing with join at a second grandkid, Victoire having been born to Fleur and Bill not long ago.

"Sorry I'm late, honey," Percy said as he walked over to her in the café. He gave her a peck on the lips and sat down. "The meeting went longer than I expected. How was your appointment?"

Parvati beamed. "I know what the baby is," she admitted.

Percy's eyes lit up. "Do you now? Are you going to let me in on the secret?"

"Maybe," she teased.

"Please," he begged, giving her the look that George had dubbed as "positively disgusting."

"It's a girl."

"Fantastic!" he replied. "That means George and I won't have to get at it yet over who gets to name a kid after Fred. What's little Padma's middle name going to be?"

"I thought you'd want to pick it," Parvati said, thrilled that Percy was automatically naming their daughter after her sister when they hadn't even discussed it yet.

Percy thought for a moment. "Molly? No, Padma Molly sounds odd, but I really want her to have an English middle name."

"Lucille?"

Percy made a small face. "I can't believe you would give our child an old lady name."

"Hey," Parvati protested. "I like it!"

"My great-grandmother's name was Lucille."

"Well I still like it," Parvati declared.

"I suppose Padma Lucille does have a nice ring to it," he admitted.

"Do you want to call her Padma?" Parvati asked.

"Do you?" he asked back.

"It might be a little strange to call for my daughter by my sister's name."

"Her middle name would work," he agreed.

"Come here, Lucille," she tested. "Sounds great."

Percy frowned. "I don't-" He cut off suddenly and grinned. "Lucy!"

"Huh?"

"Padma Lucille Weasley, more commonly known as Lucy."

Parvati smiled. "She may be a namesake, but she'll still be known as someone all her own."

Percy reached out and took his fiancé's hand. He couldn't believe he was such a lucky man. "Four months left," he said softly.

She nodded, unable to keep the joy off her face. "And a wedding next summer," she added.

"I'd say our little family is shaping up quite nicely," Percy said.

Parvati had to agree. For a couple no one expected, they were doing pretty well.


End file.
